In this country, pregnant women get to move to the front of the line

Ever wonder how much time you spend waiting in line? MIT professor Richard Larson estimates that people can spend up to two years of their lives in this unfortunate predicament.

It's a time-sucking, frustrating part of life. But here's some good news: if you're pregnant and live in Israel, you don't have to wait in line in public places, thanks to a new law passed by the country this week.

The law is actually an amendment to the existing Women's Equal Rights Act in Israel, signed in 1951. Now, in any place where a public service is performed – supermarkets, shops, pharmacies and the post office, to name just a few – expectant moms can ask to be sent to the front of the line, and their request must be granted.

Israeli women such as Gal Gadot, shown here pregnant with her second child in 2017, can now skip the line. (Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency
/
Shutterstock)

“Pregnant women are sometimes forced to wait for a long time in long and
exhausting lines at supermarkets, shops, pharmacies, the post office
and other places which provide public service," the bill states. "In order to give pregnant
women the respect they deserve and to make life easier for them, it is
proposed to amend the Women's Equal Rights
Act, and to determine that in a situation in which a pregnant woman will
ask, which will be granted the right to receive public service without
waiting in line.”

A similar law passed in Israel in June 2017, granting senior citizens over 80 years old the right to skip the line.

Israel is not the first country to do this. Brazil goes even further, requiring line priority for people over 60 in businesses and government facilities. Failure to do so could result in a $700 fine.

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Jaime Bender
is a staff writer, copy editor and web producer at From the Grapevine who also manages Israeli Kitchen, From The Grapevine’s food channel.